As a multi-cultural American, how do YOU stay rooted?

nbirn2103 I appreciate you sharing what you did...

The first part I can relate to in my own way too... cause when I go to El Salvador, my cousins tease me (but I know they are serious) and call me a"gringo" or an American, which I am but still, I feel like I should be able to claim Salvadorian if I wanted to because that's where my parentsand their parents are from... anyways then here in the States, although born in DC if I don't tell you, you probably just think I'm a Salvadorian...leaving me stuck, like... anyways, in the end I know who and what I am.

Also man about ya grandfather fighting for the US side even though he was really part of neither country at the time (far less from the US), that sucks andstill happens to some degree today! Many young latino, not US Citizens (just residents, bet some of yall didn't know that) join in hopes of being able toobtain a higher education and maybe even hoping the country will recognize their valient efforts and make them a citizen. Fighting for a country theyweren't even born in!

Like someone else said, it doesn't mean you have to go the extreme to stayed rooted (wearing clothing and so forth) but I think it's important to knowwhere you came from, how you got here, preserve a culture, a language, and so forth. Like I said earlier... sad that we knowmore about our dogs family tree then our own!
 
^Thanks.

I just remember sitting in a classroom in Paris and being the only American in there out of 30 people. The teacher asked me what I was and I said Japanese andItalian. The Italian girl next to me was like, your parents are from Italy? And the Japanese girl on the other side of the room asked where in Japan my parentswere from too... I realized then I was an American as the entire class shouted at me that was just an American.

I feel you about your family and being Salvadorian. Those are the exact circumstances that my grandparents experienced. While they looked 100% Japanese, theywere considered both foreigners in America and Japan. It's like my mom too who is 100% Japanese. When she lived in France 30 odd years ago, all the frenchwould be so blown away by her perfect french accent. ( Because Japanese have a really hard time with the french language) They could not believe she was anAmerican.

Interesting analogy in comparison to modern times. Many people make those same sorts of decisions in hopes of being American or hopes of obtaining a highereducation. Some people prove their want/desire to become an American by fighting for it. Pretty noble IMO. . .
 
i got this problem also. but i try relearn my language, rep my culture, learn to make authentic lao food, visit my fam and homeland and kick it with my ppls onthe reg. Ill try and help the small lao community, like go help at the temple and all that.
 
Some of you guys brought up a really good point; one that I have experienced myself. The idea of being multi-cultural in America almost seems paradoxical in away. Being Chinese-American, I'm not necessarily accepted as fully "Chinese" by Chinese people nor am I looked at as completely"American" by the majority that live here. It's almost like I'm living in constant limbo between the two sides.
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Like when I go toShanghai or Hong Kong and people hear me speak in perfect American English, they look at me sideways like "Oh, he's American."; almost as if justthat tiny bit of language already creates a world of difference between us. The same applies when I meet new people here in America. It's almost like"Oh wow, this kid can speak perfect English and doesn't have an accent." Growing up in California, the "shock" people have is asminimal as it's going to get but it still happens. I can't even imagine visiting, let alone living, in a place like Missouri or Mississippi.
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btw, I'm really glad I got a lot of really solid feedback! Really informative/insightful stuff.
 
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I love Nigerian food, I was born there, I understand Ibo(can't speak tho
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), I am very proud of my heritage



My mom wants me to marry a Nigerian woman.....that's not happening. I'm gonna have to find another way of preserving my very righ heritage
 
Originally Posted by AntonLaVey

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I love Nigerian food, I was born there, I understand Ibo(can't speak tho
tired.gif
), I am very proud of my heritage



My mom wants me to marry a Nigerian woman.....that's not happening. I'm gonna have to find another way of preserving my very righ heritage
I remember when I was like 16 and the topic of relationships came up with my parents. Nevermind how awkward it was, what really pissed me off atthe time was how adamant my parents were that I marry some Chinese girl in the future. It's been a few years now and, for reasons unknown to me,they've eased up on that. Mom's cool with Asian girls (except for a few nationalities that I won't name out of respect
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) and white girls
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. Dad has knocked it down to Asian girls (also with a few exceptions
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) I'm hoping that with a few more years put in, they'll open their mindsup to the other shades of the racial spectrum
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I was adopted by a white father and Japanese-American mother (sansei, for the Japanese folks reading this) from Japan when I was only 3 months old... don'tremember anything about my life in Japan. Mom kept me rooted though, took me to all sorts of cultural stuff at the JA National Museum, Nisei Week every year,temple stuff... lucky we live in LA haha. Can't speak the language at all sadly, but I'm learning bit by bit.
 
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